Palace maidens and eunuchs in the Forbidden City never dared to eat the king's leftovers, why is that?

How is the king's leftovers handled?

In the ancient dynasty of China, the Emperor was the person who sat in the highest position, not only worshiped by the subjects, but also considered the son of God. Compliance will be severely punished. With such an important position, the dishes that the Emperor eats every day also become very special.

According to the Qulishi site, each main meal of the Qing Emperor in the Forbidden City has up to nearly a hundred dishes of rich flavors and a hearty banquet. This is to show the position and power of the king, the face of the royal family. However, in it, not every dish is the king's favorite dish. The whole table, but there are dishes that the Emperor does not touch with chopsticks.

According to the records of the last Qing emperor, Pu Yi, he never took more than 3 pieces of a dish for fear of being poisoned. That meant that after each Emperor's meal, there would be a lot of leftovers. However, these dishes were never thrown away because most emperors were very thrifty, setting an example for their subjects. Therefore, the treatment of leftovers will be divided into two ways.

The first is to reward concubines or officials. In previous dynasties, the Emperor often awarded titles or gold and silver jewels to the harem beauty, his officials. But in reality, these valuable items are not even worth the King's food.

That's because for the ancient Chinese, the highest ritual in inviting rice was to invite the other party to your home for dinner. Therefore, the fact that the Emperor gives his food to his subordinates is a great favor, not everyone can have it, usually it must be someone who holds an important position, is trusted by the King or has made great achievements. . From a different perspective, it was also an honor for those who were rewarded for sharing a meal with the Emperor.

However, the Emperor's dishes were not always rewarded to the harem concubines and officials. Therefore, it will become the target of competition of palace maidens and eunuchs. In fact, the palace maids and eunuchs in the Forbidden City never dared to eat the Emperor's leftovers because they would commit a crime in the army. They compete for these dishes for the purpose of making a profit, not for eating.

The palace maids and eunuchs would secretly sell the Emperor's food outside the palace, to the big taverns. Therefore, it is a dish in the palace, serving the high-ranking people, and is passed through the hands of Thuong Thien in the palace, so the taste is definitely "no joke" and the price is also very high. Thanks to that, the palace maids and eunuchs will have a large income, helping them to survive in the palace or send money back to their families.

Especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was a chain of industries specializing in reselling the Emperor's leftovers in the imperial palace, the profits were very high. According to an unofficial record, at that time in Beijing nearly 10,000 people were involved in this trade, proving huge profits.

Many of the dishes that the Emperor did not touch or just picked up with his chopsticks could also be reprocessed by pubs, "labeled" royal dishes and sold to the rich at high prices. As long as it is related to the king and the palace, many people will feel curious and will not hesitate to spend a large amount of money to be able to see and taste it once.

Some other dishes are even sold cheaply to some street vendors. They will cook porridge and then sell it all over the streets and alleys, serving the poor, anyone can eat. This also avoids the waste of lavish dishes. Eating and drinking is a very important thing for the Chinese people, it means ritual and a lot of rules. Therefore, the Emperor's handling of leftovers is also one of the topics that many people are interested in to this day.

Why doesn't the Forbidden City have a single tree shadow?

The first reason is the green trees that make Hoang come to lose his majesty. During the Ming to Qing dynasties, the Emperors considered themselves "Thien Son" (son of heaven). All scenery is not allowed to be higher than Thai Hoa Palace, including trees. When entering through the gate from Tiananmen, the space of the Forbidden City without a shadow of trees creates a dignified atmosphere. Military gods passing through the road leading to Thai Hoa palace will feel fear, only one heart will worship the Emperor. In addition, trees also attract birds, which will lose their dignity and respect for the Emperor.

The second reason is to prevent fire. In the old days, fire was a very serious problem because there was no modern means of fire fighting. The Forbidden City is large, it is very difficult to use only small buckets of water to fight the fire. Also for this reason, in the 3 main halls are designed many water tanks to put out the fire.

The third reason is because of feng shui. In the Marble Mountains, the location of the Forbidden City belongs to the earth, the green trees belong to the par wood. The opposite earth and wood can bring bad luck, so the 3 main halls of Thai Hoa, Trung Hoa and Bao Hoa are not allowed to have trees.

The final reason is to prevent assassins. Not planting trees in Tam Dien is also a way to completely eliminate the hiding place of assassins. The bodies of kings are very important. In order to eliminate all dangers, the ancients had anticipated hidden dangers to protect the Emperor completely.

The Emperor's bedroom in the Forbidden City is only 10m2, far behind even the poor, why? Như Ý16:31:21 14/02/2022The Forbidden City or Imperial Palace in China is one of the largest-scale palaces in the world that still exists today. The overall area of the Forbidden City is 720,000 m2 and it is said that there are 9,999 rooms. In 1407, the third Ming emperor, Minh Thanh To Chu De, started...